Patriarch hail from Kansas and released a
brilliant 4 song EP First Hand on a private label
(TED Records) back in 1983. The first thing that struck me when I
heard this record was its similarity to Kansas (the band). This
is fantastic stuff and extremely well recorded and played. These
guys sure know how to pen pomp rock songs of the finest order.
There are 3 great rock tracks with vocals similar to Steve Walsh
and one ballad to vary the tempo, and every one could have been
lifted off any classic Kansas record, they are that good.

The band line up featured that most
typical Kansas instrument, violin, too. The line up was Gregg
Anderson - (lead and rhythm guitars, violin, vocals), Chuck Huels
- (keyboards, percussion, vocals), Mike Maxwell - (lead and
rhythm guitars, bass, vocals), Jeff Carroll - (bass, vocals),
Steve Kuker - (drums. vocals). Having said that these guys do
what they do very well indeed and are obviously influenced by
their heroes rather than just stealing their songs. Sadly, the
band released nothing else, which is a shame as they had major
league potential and were nearly signed to RCA until the deal
fell through at the last minute.

Apparently there is other material
in the vaults and there is talk of a reformation later this year.
I can't wait and if anyone has an original copy of the EP to
trade I know Carl Noonan (rochford@noonan80.freeserve.co.uk) is particularly keen to meet you! I was
lucky enough to track down the band and through some e-mails with
mainly Steve along with Chuck and Jeff I gleaned the following
from them. Genuinely enthusiastic and pleased to hear from one of
their fans, it was nice to find out the story of one of the top
rarities of recent years

Was the "First Hand"
mini-album all that Patriarch did?
No. It was our first attempt at a professional recording though.
Mike Maxwell's father (Ted) loaned us the money to make the
recording. "Ted Records" was in honor of Ted Maxwell
and also stood for "Terribly Expensive Demo". We spent
so much money on this project that we purchased a Tascam T38
8-track reel to reel recorder and then began recording, mixing,
and producing on our own. Jay Waller, owner of "Stage
Pro", had excellent equipment that we could use so it was an
easy decision to do it on our own and made good business sense.
The recordings that we subsequently produced were much better
than the one we paid a professional to do.

The album seems rare from over here --
was it successful regionally & how many were pressed?
Our goal was to sell enough records to pay for the $5,000 demo.
We initially had 1,000 produced for sale and sold them for $5
each at our concerts and in local record stores. We sold 1,000
pretty quickly and paid Ted back. We then had another
1,000 produced, which were also sold locally. With no major
promotions or marketing, I think it was fairly successful on a
local basis. (CHUCK) We made only 1,000 "First Hand"
EPs and sold them all back in 1983-1985 time frame. We only did
cassette tapes after that - mostly for demos. We recorded a lot
(we bought our own 8 track - 1/2 " tape machine) for demos
but did just a few seriously - maybe 10 songs that we really
tried on. Two songs that we did in our little studio that came
out great were "Sentimental Youth" and "Under the
Ice". You probably have never heard them - sold maybe 500
tapes as the purpose was not for making money, but for getting a
label. I have those masters packed away.

Are there other recordings I should be
hunting down?
We made several other recordings on our own but used them mainly
to promote the band to major record labels. We did sell a few
tapes locally. The first attempt at recording on our own resulted
in a 4-song cassette entitled Patriarch". We also
produced another tape for demo purposes under the name of
"Host of Others". This was so that we could send the
same
material to the record labels under two different names to
increase our odds of someone listening to us.

How and when did you come together?
Gregg and I started the band in 1981. We were roommates and had
played together before. Gregg met Chuck at Kansas
University in the Music Building on campus. In this building,
there are about 20 small practice rooms in the upper floor where
student musicians went to practice. Chuck was in a room and was
playing "Last Chance" by Shooting Star. Gregg heard
this
coming through the wall and he then joined in by playing the
violin part. Chuck heard him respond through the wall and they
stopped playing and introduced themselves. Gregg came home and
told me that he had found our keyboard player. We then
found a bass player named Mark and he brought his friend from
Topeka named Mike Maxwell to jam with us as a second
guitarist. We clicked with Mike from the start but it didn't work
out with Mark. We were then fortunate to have a friend refer us
to Jeff. He jammed with us and Patriarch was born.

Had any of you recorded previously?
I think Mike may have recorded in his former band but I'm not
positive about that. I believe that this was the first recording
for the rest of us though.

Was it a studio project or a live band -
did you play with anybody I might know?
It was a studio project and was recorded at "Studio
West", owned by Gary West of Shooting Star. It was actually
in the
basement of his home. No one else but us played on the record.
Also, there is no overdubbing...we wanted to make sure that we
could play everything you hear on the recording in a live
concert. We usually played solo live. However, we did play with a
few bands in concert settings such as Shooting Star, Head East,
and Alchemy. We played a few other outdoor concerts with multiple
bands in which we were the headline act.

What sort of stuff influenced the music?
As you can imagine...Kansas, Rush, Journey, Yes. We were compared
a lot to Kansas because we featured a very talented violinist.

Were you always based in Kansas?
Yes. Specifically from the Topeka and Lawrence area.

What other bands were in the scene for
(I guess you'd know how you categorized yourseIves better than I)
progressive music / AOR in Kansas? Is this Shooting Star /
Powerglide territory?
Shooting Star, Powerglide, and Plain Jane were hot back then.
Also, a band from Topeka named Alchemy was an awesome "true
musician's" band!

What happened after the album?
We sold the album locally and made other recordings with our own
equipment. My current company is a software development company,
but after we get it off the ground, I seriously want to start an
internet based record label for our band as well as others who
didn't quite get the attention of the big labels in LA and NY.
There is a lot of talent out there and it should be promoted!

What have you & the other members
done musically since?
Gregg is a violinist in the Naples Symphony Orchestra in Florida.
He also performs violin at private engagements and has
several guitar students as well. He's also written and recorded
several "amazing" jazz tunes that will blow you away!
Gregg, Chuck, and I plan to record them in the near future. Chuck
lives in Atlanta and is building a 32 track digital studio as we
speak! He plays in two bands and is now an accomplished guitarist
as well as a keyboard player. Jeff plays bass in a
jazz/blues band and is really enjoying it. He was always very
good with the jazz stuff! I haven't yet heard his band but have
heard that it's very good. Mike hasn't played music with anyone
for a while but is teaching guitar to a couple of students in
exchange for karate lessons (he's now a very good black belt!).
I've played with Chuck several times in Atlanta and am getting
ready to start a band here in KC with the former Alchemy bass
player Chris Myers.

Is there anything left over musically
(demos/live) that haven't been heard?
There are several recordings that haven't been heard by the
public.

What will come out on the CD? Do you
mean CDs/videos of the reunion or are you going to unleash some
of that old stuff on us (please)?

We plan to produce CDs/videos of the reunion and will have them
available for sale. We also plan to re-engineer all of the old
music that is now on tape onto digital format for CD production.

(CHUCK) I am currently in the middle of building a 32 track
digital studio (ADAT) and my first plan is to remix all the old
Patriarch stuff and get them on CD so that they don't disappear.
The videos Steve mentioned are all very home" quality
and the sound is all through the little mic on the camera. Mostly
us doing cover tunes but there are some originals on the tapes. I
know I have a live take of Two Steps Away from the EP - I am sure
there are others as well. The master sound tapes were the
important things to keep and I have all of them.

To the extent that Patriarch aren't (I
presume) still a going concern  how did it "end"?
Gregg had an opportunity to get his Master's in violin at the
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and they made their third and
final offer for a full scholarship. Chuck had just finished his
Master's in Engineering and had lucrative offers from several
companies around the country. We had been at this for about 6
years with no luck from the major labels. We nearly got signed by
RCA in Los Angeles but couldn't get over the last hurdle!
Atlantic was also very interested but we couldn't convince them
to sign us! Eventually we felt like we were wasting our time with
them and had to decide to either pursue our careers as
businessmen or keep on being "played with" by the
labels. We decided to move on into our careers....when the band
called it quits I cried for a week. It was like a death in the
family.

You obviously still get back together in
part at least - what's prompted the full reunion?
I just went to Atlanta and played a New Year's gig with Chuck and
over the weekend, we watched old videotapes of the
band. It was a blast! Patriarch is also planning a reunion
concert this summer or fall and CDs/videos will be mastered for
duplication. We've talked about it for a few years and we all
keep in touch because we're still friends. We were all (and still
are) as close as brothers. It is something that we really want to
do. If we still lived in the same area, we'd still have the band
together.